Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) Stock Has Average Price Target of $552.63 According to Brokerages

Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) has been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty research firms that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and thirteen have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price target among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $552.63.

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on MCO shares. Citigroup restated a “buy” rating and set a $600.00 price target (up from $565.00) on shares of Moody’s in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Evercore lifted their price target on shares of Moody’s from $570.00 to $588.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on Moody’s from $557.00 to $593.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on Moody’s from $490.00 to $511.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 22nd. Finally, Rothschild & Co Redburn raised their target price on Moody’s from $510.00 to $520.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd.

Insider Buying and Selling at Moody’s

In other news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 1,467 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $484.30, for a total transaction of $710,468.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 51,964 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,166,165.20. This represents a 2.75% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Corporate insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Moody’s

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Wilkerson Advisory Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Moody’s by 87.1% in the 1st quarter. Wilkerson Advisory Group LLC now owns 58 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 27 shares during the period. Whipplewood Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 1,866.7% in the 1st quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 59 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 56 shares during the last quarter. Compass Financial Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Moody’s during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Balance Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Moody’s during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $40,000. Finally, FNY Investment Advisers LLC purchased a new position in shares of Moody’s during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $45,000. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Moody’s Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MCO opened at $473.27 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $477.78 and a two-hundred day moving average of $468.33. Moody’s has a 52-week low of $402.28 and a 52-week high of $546.88.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 21st. The business services provider reported $4.14 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.25 by ($0.11). The firm had revenue of $2.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.08 billion. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.92 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Moody’s will post 16.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 11th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 20th will be paid a $1.03 dividend. This represents a $4.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 20th.

About Moody’s

Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) is a global provider of credit ratings, research, data, analytics and risk-management solutions. Through Moody’s Investors Service, the company assigns credit ratings and publishes research on corporate, government and structured-finance debt issuers, helping investors and other market participants evaluate credit risk.

Through Moody’s Analytics, the company provides financial intelligence, economic research, data, software and advisory services. Its offerings support credit analysis, lending, portfolio management, enterprise risk management, compliance and related functions across financial institutions, corporations, governments and other organizations.

Moody’s traces its origins to 1909, when John Moody established the company that introduced published credit ratings for bonds.